Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

139 reviews

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

One of the most remarkable books I have read in a long time. Zevin does a masterful job of exploring what it means to be a friend and the depths of platonic love over the landscape of early video games.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Eating disorder, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation

alisonannk's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

Minor: Antisemitism

miniingrid's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Es uno de esos libros que tengo que reposar. Así que de momento diré que aunque tenga cosas que no me han gustado, me ha tocado la fibra y me ha hecho recordar cierta época de mi vida y me ha removido. Así que el balance es más bien positivo, pero me ha dejado un poso triste que aún estoy procesando.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Abortion and Alcohol

blair_w's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Abortion

Minor: Domestic abuse and Alcohol

mlcrawford's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

1.0

UPDATE: knocked it down a star due to plagiarism allegations regarding Brenda Romero’s 2009 board game, Train. “Solution” rips the concept and there’s no credit given to Romero in the acknowledgments. https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/24/train-board-game-brenda-romero-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow/

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I've taken a week to think about this review, but my mind remains unchanged—it was disappointing. I wanted to love it, especially since so many people told me that it was their favorite read of 2022/now in their list of top-ten favorite books, but I would personally prefer to forget that I read it.

Part of this is the story itself—I find it hard to believe that this is a book about friendship. I understand wanting flawed characters, no one is perfect, etc., but more often than not Sam and Saide straight-up hate each other. Constantly getting into arguments and not speaking for years, in my mind, is not friendship. Miscommunication as plot advancement is predictable at best and utterly frustrating at worst—moreover, it removes the realism of what's supposed to be a slice-of-life novel.

There are a number of instances that removed me from the story—the unnecessary thesaurus-chosen words, out-of-place anecdotes that don't fit the time period, Miles Davis being underground and "avant-garde," inconsistencies with Sam's injury.

There's a passage of him driving after he's had surgery. Unless he drives a manual, why would he use his left foot for the pedals?

Good:
The NPC chapter was beautifully written. Does it fit the book? No—it stands out as the response to a creative writing prompt, but it's done well.

Not Good:
Personally, I couldn't stand the Pioneers chapter. And I love Stardew Valley/Animal Crossing! I am the target demographic for that chapter, and it was a slog. The book was beyond overwritten at that point.
The first half was stronger than the second half. At one point, it gets deus ex machina and really just goes off the rails from there.
There were a lot of sociopolitical issues mentioned, but without resolve. It felt like a list of "oh, and this is an issue, too," but why? Get into the nitty-gritty of it. Otherwise it feels like a sideshow of racism, sexism, homophobia, abuse, and ableism. Especially regarding

Dov—I understand that there's a balance of writing his character casually because that's often how cycles of abuse are perpetuated and that, more often than not, abusers go on without consequence. But it would have been great to have some level of recourse. Especially, I don't know, maybe with Sam actually being a friend and not going to Dov? Asking Sadie what's going on instead of just noticing it and sweeping it under the rug? Again, it's hard to believe that they're supposed to be friends.

Not every book is for everyone, and this one isn't for me. I think the other side of the coin is that I've read a few other coming-of-age books recently (The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, and Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery). Obviously you can't compare these to Tomorrow because they are wholly different stories and settings, but they all are coming-of-age books, and that's where Tomorrow really fell flat for me. The character growth is nonexistent. Even

at the end, with a five-year time jump or whatever it was, Sam and Sadie are wholly unchanged. Even as flawed characters, how do you go half of your life without changing at all? Growing from experience? Learning how to communicate? Anything?

I also don't think this should be categorized as literary fiction—based on that, I expected something with deeper meaning, conceptual ideas, maybe a slight speculative fiction slant at times. I'd place Tomorrow somewhere between Young Adult and Adult fiction. More often than not, it read like a YA novel, which is fine if that's what you're expecting.

Also, hell, there should be a list of Content Warnings with this book.

Ableism, abuse, BDSM, cancer, car accident, death, death of a parent, gun violence, homophobia, mass shooting, medical trauma, sexism, suicide, racism, vomit, to name a few

. I tend to prefer books that let the reader infer what's going on, but Tomorrow just throws it all out there, often in an unsettling amount of detail. I would hate for someone to go into this book not knowing what CWs it entails and stumbling across something detrimentally triggering.

Overall, not the book for me. Frustrating, disappointing, and about 100 pages too long. I wish I could have read the book that a lot of other people seem to love. But the cover design is a 10/10, so it's got that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Car accident

Minor: Infidelity, Abortion, and Alcohol

shelbydm's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Car accident, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Abortion

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

loved the Pioneers section—genius.

"'Zweisamkeit' is the feeling of being alone even when you're with other people." Simon turned to look in his husband's eyes. "Before I met you, I felt this constantly. I felt it with my family, my friends, and every boyfriend I ever had. I felt it so often that I thought this was the nature of living. To be alive was to accept that you were fundamentally alone." Simon's eyes were moist. "I know I'm impossible, and I know you don't care about German words or marriage. All | can say is, I love you and thank you for marrying me anyway." 

Ant raised his glass. "Zweisamkeit," he said.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

megan_j's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very John green-esque, reminded me also of ready player one (in the general vibe, not just the gaming aspect) very sad and tugs on your heart strings but didn’t do enough to make me cry, but the characters were very well rounded and I enjoyed it a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

fozzybookmouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was so ready to love this book but didn’t end up loving it. It’s quite disappointing that the only lil able main male character is killed off. I dislike most of these characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail